1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light receiving device, a light receiving device manufacturing method, and a light receiving method.
2. Related Art
Conventionally known light-harvesting-antenna-type light receiving elements make use of surface plasmons propagating along the surface of electrically conductive materials such as metal as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-248141 and Tsutomu Ishi, et al., “Si Nano-Photodiode with a Surface Plasmon Antenna”, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Japan, March 2005, Vol. 44, No. 12, pp.L364-L366. Furthermore, known polarization dispersing elements convert linearly polarized incoming light into radially or concentrically polarized light as disclosed in, for example, Rumiko Yamaguchi, et al., “Liquid Crystal Polarizers with Axially Symmetrical Properties”, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Japan, July 1989, Vol. 28, No. 9, pp. 1730-1731 and Shin Masuda, et al., “Optical Properties of a Polarization Converting Device Using a Nematic Liquid Crystal Cell”, OPTICAL REVIEW, Japan, 1995, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 211-216.
Here, the light-harvesting-antenna-type light receiving elements exhibit largely varying light collection efficiency depending on the polarization direction of the incoming light. Therefore, such light receiving elements may suffer from poor light collection efficiency when irradiated with light polarized in a single direction.